I love foldables, but Samsung's $2,900 Galaxy Z TriFold is a step too far

For a while, I only thought of myself as a flip phone guy. I loved the idea of a phone that only took up half of my pocket, and I didn’t really care what companies did with their book-style foldables. Then, Samsung launched its Galaxy Z Fold 7, and it quickly won me over. Sure, it was probably a little too expensive, but the hardware felt brilliant, and I finally figured out how to use a device like this as a regular phone, which kind of justified the whole experience.

Now, though, I think Samsung has jumped the shark. Its Galaxy Z TriFold is as ambitious as its price is eye-watering, and I don’t see how anyone can justify buying one at launch. Here’s why I’d rather exercise a boatload of caution.

Paying for risk, paying for reward

At $2,900 — yes, $100 below the nearly unbelievable $3,000 threshold — the Galaxy Z TriFold is expensive. In fact, calling it merely expensive is putting it mildly. You could go through Samsung’s entire inventory and build an impressive personal tech setup or half a smart home for that money. It’s not the type of purchase you make lightly, nor is it one you make more than once.

Of course, if you’re actually considering the Galaxy Z TriFold, you already know that. You already know it’s going to cost a lot up front, but you might not be considering all of Samsung’s extra costs. You might not be thinking about the accessories you’d need to flesh out your experience, like a Bluetooth keyboard and a three-piece (or more) case that hopefully keeps parts of your purchase safe.

Oh, and then there’s the potential for repair costs. Samsung has already confirmed that it’ll offer a one-time 50% discount on display repairs for Galaxy Z TriFold buyers. Right now, a repair for the single-folding Galaxy Z Fold 7 costs around $600 before any discounts, so I’d be shocked if an equivalent fix for the TriFold comes in under $1,000. In fact, in Korea, the Galaxy Z TriFold’s display reportedly costs as much as ~$1,243 to fix. Now imagine if you manage to break the phone’s display more than once as you get used to this brand-new form factor.

I know, I know, durability isn’t something we’ve had to talk about too much across recent generations of Samsung foldables. The displays and hinges are tougher than ever, and it’s no longer unheard of for a foldable to ship with an IP rating that actually covers both water and dust. That’s the case for single-folding phones, though, and this is… not that.

No, this is something totally new, a Samsung phone that asks one panel to fold twice instead of once, asks just how well a 3.9mm frame can stand up to everyday life, and asks just how far a 10-inch display can stretch a 5,600mAh battery. My guess? Not quite well enough or long enough to justify spending $2,900 on a phone.

I mean, Samsung’s Galaxy Tab S11 is about as close a comparison as we can make display-wise, and that tablet packs a much larger 8,400mAh battery. And no, I know it doesn’t fold, but it doesn’t make your wallet fold under the pressure of monthly payments, either.

Then again, I know what you’re paying for when you buy the Galaxy Z TriFold. I know you’re paying for an ambitious design that’s backed by premium materials like titanium, Gorilla Glass Ceramic 2, a 200MP primary camera, and a Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy chipset — the first one, not the Gen 5 version. There’s a lot to like, but you can get most of that on the Galaxy S25 Ultra and save almost $2,000.

Then, there’s the HUAWEI of it all…

The thing is, if Samsung’s TriFold were the only double-folding phone on the market, I think I could understand naming any price it wanted. After all, who’s there to argue? Unfortunately for Samsung, it’s not. There’s also the HUAWEI Mate XTs, which launched last year as the successor to the Mate XT 2025. And yes, that phone is equally expensive at $3,000 for the top model, with no access to Google services, but I think its hardware does more to justify the wallop to your wallet.

For starters, the Galaxy Z TriFold works two ways: it’s either all the way open or it’s closed. You either have 6.5 inches to work with, or you have 10 inches — there’s no in between. That might be fine when you need a phone, but I don’t imagine there are too many situations where you really need all 10 inches in your day-to-day life.

The Mate XTs, on the other hand, actually makes the most of its multi-fold design. You can use it closed, tapping into the 6.4-inch cover section of the panel. Need just a little bit more space? Open it once to use a 7.9-inch section of the panel, making it feel close to a standard book-style foldable. Then, if you really need the full experience, you can open the second hinge to use the entire 10.2-inch panel. One phone, one screen, three ways to use it.

HUAWEI’s monster foldable has a few other feathers in its cap, too, like faster wired charging, slightly lighter weight, and a sharper display. I’m still not sure I could justify spending more than $3,500 to import a phone with a Kirin 9020 chipset, HarmonyOS instead of proper Android, and no official durability rating, but if you want a double-folding phone that actually looks like a statement piece, why not go for the most expensive one out there?

Well, the reason not to do that is simple: Samsung’s update commitment is stronger, its durability is better, and its ecosystem is more robust. Oh, and there’s the little matter of repairability — that’ll be easy for Samsung in the US, not for HUAWEI.

If you ask me, though, I’m still not spending nearly $3,000 on a phone right now, nor will I ever.